DRINKING WATER
Why Planning Is The Hero Of AMI Deployment
Thorough planning, accurate data, and strong communication are the keys to successful AMI deployments, preventing costly disruptions and ensuring technology delivers long-term operational and customer service value.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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The Best Way To Remove Manganese From Drinking Water
Manganese has the potential to become a primary contaminant in the future. Therefore, cost-effective methods for removing it are an important consideration when treating drinking water.
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CHA Consulting Is Helping Florida Utilities Meet Ambitious Reclaimed Water Effluent Regulations
Discover how CHA Consulting has been working to help utilities across the sunshine state find the right balance and stay ahead of statewide deadlines for compliance.
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Membrane Filtration Water Treatment Plant Meets Hotel Complex's Needs
The Little America West Hotel complex located near the town of Granger, Wyoming, used an outdated surface water treatment plant that provided poor quality water during storm events.
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Are Your Customers Turning Up Their Noses At Your Drinking Water?
There have been a number of surveys on water-utility customer satisfaction over the past few decades and, unfortunately, the news tends to be less encouraging than it should be. Is it safe to chalk up those responses to personal tastes or preferences, or is it time to do something about turning them around before it’s too late? Here are some resources to consider.
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The Role Of AI In One Water: Transforming Non-Revenue Water Management With LeakZon
One of the greatest challenges in achieving a holistic water management philosophy is Non-Revenue Water (NRW) — water that is lost before reaching consumers due to leaks, theft, or inaccurate metering.
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Grundfos Solutions For Industrial Water Reuse
Water is such a fundamental necessity for life that it is often taken for granted. In modern industrial societies, the water from every tap is expected to be so pure that we can drink it without a second thought. However, the reality is much more complicated. Mankind is becoming increasingly aware that fresh water is a rarity, and the process of water treatment is vitally importance to us all. This white paper is intended to introduce the reader to the many elements that constitute the water reuse process.
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Case Study: Singapore Utility Eliminates Harmful Transients Improving System Reliability And Prolonging The Asset Life
Water scarcity has long prompted water self-sufficiency in Singapore, the third most densely populated country in the world, with 5.6 million residents crowded into just over 275 square miles.
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Product Recovery Through Ozone Oxidation Of Waste Liquor
The manufacturing of soda ash from Trona is a multi-step process that results in the production of a waste liquor that contains significant levels of organic contamination.
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Water Quality: Critically Important To Countless Industries
To say that the world of water quality is diverse is an understatement of some magnitude. It’s much more than simply diverse. It’s downright complex. Whether your application is pool management, pharmaceutical manufacturing, maintenance of boilers or cooling towers, food production, brewing, printing, desalination, agriculture, aquaculture, wastewater management, or any one of a vast number of other industries, the quality of the water is a make-or-break critical characteristic that determines success or failure.
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GAO Report Promotes New Way To Advance LSL Remediation
In a report released just days before the U.S. EPA issued its final revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided insights that water utilities can use to achieve better protections for water customers in neighborhoods at higher risk of lead exposure. Here is a peek into its four recommendations, which the GAO anticipated updating in response to the EPA final LCR revisions.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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What Is Genclean Advanced Oxidation Disinfection Solution And What Is It Used For?2/18/2021
A non-toxic, advanced oxidation (AOP) formula of minerals chelated with oxygen and stabilized in an aqueous water solution. It is a viable option in industries and applications requiring a solution to challenging situations where high level effective sanitization and oxidation is required. Read more to learn how the Genclean advanced oxidation treatment solutions can be used in different applications.
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Groundwater Remediation12/1/2020
Good quality groundwater is an important natural resource. It provides drinking water for the public as well as process water for industrial applications. Groundwater can become contaminated through a number of ways including improper handling of process chemicals or disposal of wastes.
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UV Technology Offers Solution For Emerging Water Crisis2/19/2014
Many are turning to UV as an effective barrier to enable the reuse of wastewater, for indirect reuse, and aquifer recharge.
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Ultrapure Water For Determination of Toxic Elements In Environmental Analyses4/10/2018
In this paper the importance of reagent water quality for toxic element environmental analyses is discussed, and the suitability of fresh ultrapure water produced using MilliporeSigma water purification systems for ICP-OES and ICP-MS trace element analyses in environmental laboratories is demonstrated.
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HOD™ (Hydro-Optic Disinfection) UV Water Treatment For Bottled Water3/27/2025
The HOD™ (Hydro-Optic Disinfection) UV water treatment system by Atlantium Technologies represents a groundbreaking advancement in drinking water disinfection, particularly for the bottled water industry.
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TOC Analysis: The Best Tool In A Drinking Water Facility's Toolbox5/3/2019
SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions designs and manufactures Sievers Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Analyzers that enable near real-time reporting of organic carbon levels for treatment optimization, quality control & regulatory compliance. TOC has a wide range of applicability at a drinking water plant, and therefore any drinking water utility — large or small — can measure TOC in their laboratory or online in their treatment process.
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Process Optimization For Flow Measurement4/29/2021
The Saalfeld-Rudolfstadt Association in Germany must rely on cutting-edge technologies that optimize flow measurement in order to allow for smooth processes and supply 82,000 inhabitants with clean drinking water.
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Analysis Of Pesticide Residue In Spinach Using The AutoMate-Q40 An Automated QuEChERS Solution10/16/2014
QuEChERS is a Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe extraction method that has been developed for the determination of pesticide residues in agricultural commodities.
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Bridge Crossings And The Proper Use Of EX-TEND®, FLEX-TEND®, And Force Balanced FLEX-TEND Products11/1/2020
Of particular interest when it comes to bridges is the locating of pressurized water lines on and under bridge structures. Pressurized pipelines can present a number of unique challenges to the design engineer and utility owner.
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Fountain Testing Solutions10/29/2021
Accurate fountain (dampening) solution concentration control is essential for consistent, high-quality results in lithography. Low concentration can cause drying on the non-image area of the plate resulting in tinting, scumming, blanket piling, etc. High concentrations, on the other hand, bring about over-emulsification of the ink. This results in weakening of color strength and changes in ink rheology (body and flow properties). Correct concentration will allow the non-image areas of the plate to be appropriately wetted.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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The White House has finalized plans to roll back rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), narrowing its focus and limiting what the current administration claims are needless delays for federal approval of water, energy, and other infrastructure plans. For water and wastewater utilities, the changes could speed up permitting for critical projects, although experts warn the tradeoffs could do more harm than good.
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Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation Facility
Portland's industry-leading facility reaches 100 reactor validations in 23 years.
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Given the maturation of sensor technology, the scientific and operational hurdles to portable lead analysis are somewhat surprising — but surmountable.
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Bathymetric modeling maps underwater terrain. It also helps guide planning, prevent hazards, and build climate-resilient infrastructure.
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The data center industry stands at a critical juncture. As facilities scale to meet exponential computing demands, water consumption has emerged as a defining operational challenge. Traditional approaches focused on water efficiency are no longer sufficient.
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When pregnant women drink water that comes from wells downstream of sites contaminated with PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” the risks to their babies’ health substantially increase, a new study found. These risks include the chance of low birth weight, preterm birth, and infant mortality.
ABOUT DRINKING WATER
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
- Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
- Drinking water treatment of source water
- Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.